James 3:8-No one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same source both fresh and bitter water?
Or from the Spanish (disclaimer, this is LOOSELY translated from the Spanish New King James by me, who is neither a Spanish language expert, or Bible scholar):
No one controls the tongue (literally, 'no one brings it into submission'). It is a type of evil that is never satisfied or content to let be. It has all the poison it can hold. With the tongue we bless (most literally, 'make speeches') to our Lord, and we also curse men, those who bear His likeness. This isn't right! Do you get salt and fresh water from the same source?
Yes, I realize that this is the verse I posted on earlier, but sisters, there is SO MUCH there that I need to learn. I'd say I could camp out here for another three, four, or say, 20 posts, and not have plumbed its depths.
I happened to be wrapping up this study at the kitchen table at the same time the master [those of you who do not normally ready my every day blog, "the master," (little 'm') is my blog name for hubby]was studying for his Sunday sermon on the computer. Priscilla closes the study with this question:
Discuss what the uses of poison reveal about the danger of an undisciplined tongue. How does it feel to know you have used your tongue as an instrument of poison?
I began to ponder how poison works on the body. Perhaps it is my ADHD tendencies coming out, but I found my mind wandering, "What does poison do, exactly? How does it work?" Besides knowing that poison is bad--it can kill you--I had little for my brain to work with. Thankfully, I've had few brushes with poison. I asked the master to google 'poison in the body,' and he obliged. He read about poison attacking the nervous system, damaging the heart, spreading infection in the blood stream, and without immediate medical care, leading to sudden and certain death.
Surely, nothing that came from my mouth could be included in this category. My words--even the "undisciplined" ones--aren't that insidious. Ha, ha, Mrs. Shirer, you can color me off the hook!
The master: Of course, this website is dealing with snake poison...
Me: Mmm Hmm? distracted because I'm looking ahead to day 2; nothing more for me to learn here after all
The master: Well, what kind of poison is the verse talking about? -pause- not hearing him because I'm translating day 2 Jess! What verse are you in?
Me:Oh! It was James 8:3
The master: Let's look it up on Blue Letter Bible. Few things in life give him more pleasure than Blue Letter Bible. The Greek word used there for 'poison' can mean the poison of asps....ugh, yeah, we covered that...the poison of animals...right, o.k. Got it. Moving right along...and rust.
Hold the phone! Rust? No, it can't be! The steady drips of sarcasm, the tiny overflows of anger, the small seepage of derision--those couldn't possibly count? And in that moment, the Holy Spirit revealed the sin of my mouth, my spirit, my heart (for out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks). My "colorful verbiage," my "telling it like it is," my "extensive vocabulary," are qualities I actually pride myself in. But so often they are nothing more than bitter waters flowing out and corroding those around me.
And where does this acidic fount pool? Why, on the people I love most! I wouldn't spread that kind of sewage around in public! Nothing so speedily deadly as a snake bite, true, but slowly and surely, my undisciplined words are eating away at my children and my husband--like rust. And to answer your question, Priscilla, it feels lousy to be an instrument of rust.
Seal them up, Lord, those leaks. I don't want them. I repent of using my mouth to destroy my family, bit by little bit. Wash me from the inside and renew a right spirit within me. Amen.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tongue Safety
James 3:8-No one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
Proverbs 12:18-Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
I grew up with guns in the house. My dad, an avid outdoorsman and gun enthusiast, kept a collection of all types of firearms. The oldest in the collection--passed down to him by my grandfather--were kept in the gun cabinet. Other guns were kept under his bed in cases, stacked in closets, laid to rest on dressers and hutches. He had small zippered travel holsters for pistols, and long hard cases for buck rifles and shotguns. None of them were locked.
They didn't have to be. While you may look aghast at this seemingly irresponsible negligence on the part of my parents, my sisters and I were perfectly safe. So schooled were we--from the time we were mere infants--to regard guns with the utmost of respect, we would not have approached even the area where the weapons were without cautious reverence. We knew what they were, what they would do, the permanence of the repercussions, the finality of the results. With guns there was never a "do-over." As a teen, I learned that--with the exception of two revolvers Dad kept on top of mom's wardrobe with the handles pointed out--none of the guns were loaded. But this tidbit of information was superfluous, because I had been brought up to believe that, "every gun is a loaded gun," and to treat them as such.
My heavenly Father created me with my own personal deadly weapon: my tongue. But He didn't leave me to my own devices, He's given me very precise instructions for its use. In His word He's warned me over and over again about its power, its lethal capabilities, its unreliability, its tendency to misfire. But unlike Daddy's gun safety education, I've not taken those warnings to heart. As a child, I would not have dared to retrieve an item from a closet shelf without first carefully examining the spot--standing on a chair if necessary--gingerly running my fingers over the location, and calling to double-check that the area in question was a de-militarized zone. Yet, as a grown adult, I'll shoot my mouth off in the most haphazard way. I take no precautions, exercise no patience or reserve, and forget to ask my Father's permission. I wield the world's most deadly weapon entirely unthinking and, frankly, unconcerned of the havoc I leave in my path. Sisters, "these things ought not to be." Starting now, I commit to ask the Holy Spirit's help in following some basic "tongue safety."
1) Treat every word as a loaded word. (Amen! Isn't it though?!)
2) Be as vigilant, careful, even reticent with the use of my tongue as I would be if approaching a venomous snake, a ravenous beast, an uncontrolled fire, or a deadly weapon. After all, that is exactly what the Lord tells me it is.
3)Never be deceived that you have your weapon unloaded and the safety on. That you are in control. You can't control the tongue! Instead, yield your weapon--every day, every hour, every minute--to the Weapon Maker, the Safety Instructor, the Expert Marksman.
4)Remember, just like with guns, there are no "do-overs." Once said, you can't call those words back. They've been discharged, and you will give an account for their intent, aim, target, and carnage.
Proverbs 12:18-Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
I grew up with guns in the house. My dad, an avid outdoorsman and gun enthusiast, kept a collection of all types of firearms. The oldest in the collection--passed down to him by my grandfather--were kept in the gun cabinet. Other guns were kept under his bed in cases, stacked in closets, laid to rest on dressers and hutches. He had small zippered travel holsters for pistols, and long hard cases for buck rifles and shotguns. None of them were locked.
They didn't have to be. While you may look aghast at this seemingly irresponsible negligence on the part of my parents, my sisters and I were perfectly safe. So schooled were we--from the time we were mere infants--to regard guns with the utmost of respect, we would not have approached even the area where the weapons were without cautious reverence. We knew what they were, what they would do, the permanence of the repercussions, the finality of the results. With guns there was never a "do-over." As a teen, I learned that--with the exception of two revolvers Dad kept on top of mom's wardrobe with the handles pointed out--none of the guns were loaded. But this tidbit of information was superfluous, because I had been brought up to believe that, "every gun is a loaded gun," and to treat them as such.
My heavenly Father created me with my own personal deadly weapon: my tongue. But He didn't leave me to my own devices, He's given me very precise instructions for its use. In His word He's warned me over and over again about its power, its lethal capabilities, its unreliability, its tendency to misfire. But unlike Daddy's gun safety education, I've not taken those warnings to heart. As a child, I would not have dared to retrieve an item from a closet shelf without first carefully examining the spot--standing on a chair if necessary--gingerly running my fingers over the location, and calling to double-check that the area in question was a de-militarized zone. Yet, as a grown adult, I'll shoot my mouth off in the most haphazard way. I take no precautions, exercise no patience or reserve, and forget to ask my Father's permission. I wield the world's most deadly weapon entirely unthinking and, frankly, unconcerned of the havoc I leave in my path. Sisters, "these things ought not to be." Starting now, I commit to ask the Holy Spirit's help in following some basic "tongue safety."
1) Treat every word as a loaded word. (Amen! Isn't it though?!)
2) Be as vigilant, careful, even reticent with the use of my tongue as I would be if approaching a venomous snake, a ravenous beast, an uncontrolled fire, or a deadly weapon. After all, that is exactly what the Lord tells me it is.
3)Never be deceived that you have your weapon unloaded and the safety on. That you are in control. You can't control the tongue! Instead, yield your weapon--every day, every hour, every minute--to the Weapon Maker, the Safety Instructor, the Expert Marksman.
4)Remember, just like with guns, there are no "do-overs." Once said, you can't call those words back. They've been discharged, and you will give an account for their intent, aim, target, and carnage.
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